Youngsters are being encouraged to reach for the stars as the closing date nears for entries to a schools poetry competition.
The EDP and Briar Chemicals Young Poets of the Year competition is aimed at pupils aged eight to 11.
This year's theme is Spectacular Space and the final stage judge is TV astronomer and writer Mark Thompson.
And there is still time for schools to submit entries, as the closing date is July 14.
Young writers are being asked to take their inspiration from outer space, let their imaginations run free and turn their thoughts and ideas into poetry.
The competition was launched in March when Mr Thompson returned to his old school, St William's Primary School, Thorpe St Andrew, to stage a space-themed demonstration and set the creative juices flowing. There are two age categories for the competition, eight and nine-year-olds and 10 and 11-year-olds.
Courtesy of Briar Chemicals, the winner of each age category will receive £100 and each of their schools will receive £500. Briar will also donate £500 to help support Mr Thompson's charity-fundraising 24-hour Space Spectacular shows in October at the Royal Institution in London in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. There will be additional prizes of copies of Mr Thompson's book, A Down to Earth Guide to the Cosmos, for the winners and runners-up. The winners will also have the opportunity to spend a morning at the EDP.
The poetry competition, now in its 11th year, is open to pupils from schools within the EDP circulation area. All entries should be submitted via the schools which have been sent entry forms. First-stage judges are: Simon Proctor, from the Eastern Daily Press; Prof Anne Osbourn, of the John Innes Centre and founder of SAW Trust (Science, Art and Writing); and Tim Green, site manager, Briar Chemicals. Mr Green said: 'For the poetry competition I am looking for ones that paint a picture in the mind's eye; it doesn't matter if it rhymes or not, both ways can be very effective .
'I think that some of the best poems in the competition are ones that show the writer's imagination – maybe about what they could do, where they could go, what life might be like elsewhere.'
Any schools requiring another entry form should email poetry.competition@briarchemicals.com
Is your school involved in a special writing project? Email newsdesk@archant.co.uk
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